Dam Site Recreation Area & Campground

Wednesday, July 31, 2019

Summer would not be complete without a trip to Greers Ferry Lake for some water fun. We reserved site M4 at Dam Site Campground for four nights arriving Wednesday evening. We had not previously stayed in Loop M, but were happy with the site on the lake side of the loop. These sites are high above lake level and for all practical purposes provides no access to the water. The separation between sites was good with water and electrical service. The pads were apparently intended for a trailer / RV or a tent.  With Hannah, Brayden and the Heber Springs girls spending the night we took our new Eureka Desert Canyon 4 tent for additional space. It was a tight fit in the narrow site. The picnic table was movable and we swung it around on its short chain to the double wide asphalt drive. I noticed several other sites in the loop had to do the same thing.

Back in the day when I was a Boy Scout we were taught to leave campsites better than we found them. A simple courtesy to the next guy. It isn't a very big thing to just pick-up after yourself and in the process pickup things folks may have inadvertently dropped or the wind had carried away. Someone at our site felt it necessary to intentionally throw plastic, cigarette butts and batteries among other litter into the fire pit. I cleaned the fire pit out before I would let anyone start a fire due to the potential noxious smoke that would be created when using it for a campfire or BBQ grill. 

Brayden and Hannah had never been to Blanchard Springs Caverns. For a cool summer activity on Thursday afternoon we caravan'ed to the cave. The previous year we did the longer 1.2 mile Discovery Trail. Tihs time we took the 0.4 mile Dripstone Trail because I wanted Hannah and Brayden to see the cathedral room (and it was just easier walking for us old people). Donna took some great pictures inside the cave.

When we returned to the campsite Thursday afternoon we got a pretty hard rain shower.  This was a chance to see just how well the new tent would stand up to rain. It was completely dry after the rain.

Friday morning we we had a 140 HP tritoon party barge reserved for five hours. The kids had a great time tubing and swimming off the barge. We stayed mostly in the area of the JFK dam where there was minimal boat traffic.

Saturday morning all of the the kids played Uno. Not sure just who won, but from the noise I think they had fun.

Later Saturday Brayden and I went to the swim beach (or at least what was left of the beach). The lake level was about 6' above normal. Brayden (a.k.a. Sharkboy) played find the rock. We had a triangular rock that I would throw for him to fetch. We kept the rock!

It was a little cooler on Saturday evening so I had Brayden build a campfire for the requisite S'more roasting. Brayden has got the tepee style campfire building process down. The fire starter sticks help!

We returned to Russellville on Sunday bringing another great trip to an end, but the memories will always last.